Chapter 10

"Nothing but a desert as far as the eye can see. Of course..."

In order to get a job, I was heading for Water City from the Kingdom of Bart on a sandstream ship, but I was attacked by a swarm of sandworms, which I had not anticipated, and ended up fleeing for my life alone.

Ah, I wonder if the captain and some of the crew managed to escape... If they did escape and weren't caught by the sandworms, they might still be alive.

Suddenly thrown into the real thing, I managed to start and navigate the small sandstream ship for escape, and I was moving through the desert while looking at the map I had taken from the ship. By the way, it seems there are no compasses or magnetic compasses in this world. Even if there were, I wouldn't be able to use them... I can use a compass, so it would have been helpful to know the direction if I had one... Honestly, I have no idea where I am. I know it's north of the capital and south of the Central Sea, but if the ship changed direction when it was attacked by the sandworms, I'm completely at a loss.

Maybe I could do some celestial navigation at night... But I've never done that before, and I don't know the constellations in this world, so it's impossible.

"What should I do?"

I took a lot of water and food, so I don't think I'll die of hunger or thirst, but the problem is whether I can reach a place where people live.

"But, moving around too much might be dangerous?"

If I end up in a place where sandworms are abundant, like where the ship sank, I'll be eaten before I die of hunger. Even though my level has increased from the battle just now, I don't have enough confidence in my combat skills to think I can fight a swarm of sandworms alone.

"Really, what should I do?"

For now, it's dangerous to head back to the sandstream ship that was being eaten by sandworms. In the opposite direction... but which direction is that? I can't help but think that a compass would be useful in a situation like this.

"I guess I have no choice but to move cautiously..."

I started moving the small sandstream ship, which I had become somewhat accustomed to, and began searching for a place where people live. A town... at first, I didn't think there were any villages in the desert where sand beasts run rampant, but according to Lieutenant Sand, most of the oases scattered in the desert are governed by nobles.

Sending officials by sandstream ship to oases, which are at risk of being attacked by sand beasts, is difficult not only for the Kingdom of Bart but also for all the countries in the Great Desert. Therefore, the nobles who govern the scattered oases are given a degree of autonomy close to that of independent states, on the condition that they bring tribute and pay respects to their home country every few years.

From the country's perspective, if the nobles of the oases rebel, they would have to suppress them for the sake of face, but it's easy to imagine that sending an army to a distant oasis surrounded by desert is difficult. Conversely, if the army is detected by sand beasts during its movement, it would have to fight the sand beasts before facing the rebelling noble's forces.

For these reasons, the countries have effectively left the oases scattered in the desert alone. Even the once-every-few-years visit is not made by most of the nobles.

"If I could reach such an oasis..."

I started the ship in the direction I decided on. If I find an oasis, I can survive for a while, but if I don't, I will die alone. According to the map, there are 108 oases confirmed in the Kingdom of Bart. The number of oases... many are known only to other countries, and of course, they wouldn't tell the Kingdom of Bart, so Lieutenant Sand said there are estimated to be hundreds of oases.

Also, there are uninhabited oases. It's not clear how many there are. If one is found, it is given as a reward to a noble, and currently, the Kingdom of Bart has confirmed zero uninhabited oases.

"An undiscovered oasis would be fine too."

As long as I find an oasis while my water supply lasts, I can survive. If I can't, I'll die in a day due to the heat when the water runs out.

"The fact that I can't think of dying is probably my dirty way of living. Maybe it's because of my promise with Kana..."

"You should live a long life. If possible, I hope you'll remarry with a new woman."

Because of my promise with her, who died young, I don't want to rush to die. Besides, in the past month since my ordinary salaryman life, I've been living quite a thrilling life.

I've met good people like Baron Stein and Lieutenant Sand. The fact that there are no women might make Kana say, "How disappointing," but...

While thinking about such things and driving the ship, I saw the oasis I was looking for.

"Is it uninhabited? No, there's a house!"

I could see a large tent-like dwelling, so I confirmed that it wasn't an uninhabited oasis. But, there's only one house in the middle of this desert oasis, and it looks like it could be blown away by a strong wind.

Perhaps it's someone who, like me, has been stranded?

"At least, if I reach there, I should be able to secure some water. I also want to talk to the person in the tent."

I directed the ship towards the oasis.